(Courtesy of College Press Box)
Garrett Gilbert began his journey on the field with somewhat of an unusual beginning.
Many know Gilbert as being a football quarterback but what some may not know is that he is a pretty good swimmer.
This makes sense given his roots began at Lake Travis High School located on Lake Travis in the Texas Hill Country about 20 minutes outside of Austin.
His football career began in high school making his first start as a sophomore. Leading his team to the Texas State Championship game in 2007, upon completing the 2007 season he had broken the state records for completions, pass attempts as well as yards.
The 2008 season proved to be just as much for Garrett Gilbert as he led the team to their second straight state title. From his sophomore to senior seasons Gilbert led the Lake Travis Cavaliers to a record of 39-4.
Upon graduation, Gilbert was named the 2008-2009 Gatorade Male Athlete of the Year, 2008 Gatorade Football Player of the year as well as the 2008 USA Today Offensive Player of the Year.
Gilbert verbally committed to the University of Texas the day he received the offer in the mail. In his tenure at Texas he played in 24 games, with 14 starts, completed 305 of 538 passes for 3,301 yards placing him at No. 9 on the University of Texas’s all time career list.
He completed one 300-yard passing game and eleven 200-yard passing games. Gilbert also excelled academically finding himself a member of UT’s Athletics Director’s Honor Roll in the fall of 2009.
After talking with head coach Mack Brown earlier this season Gilbert decided to transfer after a whirlwind of changes at the University of Texas.
ESPN reported him saying, “It is in my best interest to transfer. I can’t thank all of my teammates and everyone at Texas enough for all of their support.”
Besides playing football, Gilbert has always been active in his community. He frequently helped with vacation Bible school at Lake Hills Church in Austin, participated in the Mobile Loaves and Fishes program and always volunteered for the school carnival.
The SMU community will welcome Gilbert and his family beginning in January when he officially enrolls to become a Mustang. At that point the Mustang community will look to get to know Gilbert as he becomes part of the red, white and blue.
